Retrospective: Five Secrets of Suikoden's Success

In December 1996, Konami did something unprecedented, at least for them: They released a role-playing game in the U.S. The company was no stranger to the RPG genre, with both traditional variants (Super Famicom's Madara) and action-based iterations (King Kong for Famicom) under its belt, but those games had never escaped the irresistible gravity of the Japanese market. This new effort, Suikoden, was the company's bid to develop an international RPG presence. Launched in the early days of the PlayStation, Suikoden arrived in the fallow period between the Super NES's RPG pinnacle and Final Fantasy VII's explosive debut.

While Suikoden wasn't a runaway hit, it did well enough that Konami turned it into a steady franchise, releasing four direct sequels and almost half a dozen spin-offs over the following decade. Its sweeping sense of history and enormous cast of characters earned the series a modest but passionate fanbase. Though the series has become something of a footnote these days -- a PSP spin-off is due in Japan in 2012, though its prospects for Western localization are grim due to the platform's effective demise here -- the games still command a loyal fan base who look back at Suikoden's heyday and remember all it did right. On the occasion of the original game's 15th anniversary, let's look back at what made Suikoden both great and unique among its peers.

No-Nonsense Design

Suikoden was criticized even in its day for its short length; a determined player can easily see everything the game has to offer within the span of 15 hours. This criticism was a sign of things to come for the industry. The increased data capacity of CD-ROMs encouraged developers to explore artificial padding to satisfy gamers who demanded more content for their dollar. The issue of bloat continues to plague games (especially RPGs), which often stretch the same amount of story featured in Suikoden across two, three, even five times as much duration. Suikoden was bloat-free, and it's a better game for it: Proof that sometimes less is more.

The creators of Suikoden recognized that brevity is the soul of wit. The game had roots in cartridge-based 16-bit systems -- rumor tells that it was initially designed for Super NES -- and it reflected the same lean, compact aesthetic as 16-bit classics like Final Fantasy IV and Chrono Trigger. Suikoden could be completed quickly in large part because it was quick, with speedy battles and few needless fetch quests. But it wasn't short on secrets, either. Its breezy design and hidden depths reflect a game that was intended to be played then replayed by avid fans eager to seek the best possible ending. Compared to modern RPGs, which tend to be painfully drawn out in the hopes of keeping players invested for as long as possible, Suikoden embodies an ethos that's largely been forgotten by today's developers: A keen respect for players' time.

A Perfect Balance of Scale and Efficiency

Suikoden felt like a big game despite its brevity. Players found themselves taking control of a small rebel faction, building it into an army, fortifying a castle, launching full-scale invasions, and rallying their troops into combat for large-scale tactical battles. It stretched across a vast kingdom, and at the core of the hero's army was a team of 108 recruitable characters. Of those 108, several dozen were capable of joining the active party and going into battle.

And yet, Suikoden never felt overwhelming. Despite the immense size of the playable cast, the game was all about efficiency. Thanks to the efficient experience and leveling system, a green recruit could easily be brought to par with the leader's favorite team in just a handful of battles. Each warrior favored a single weapon that could be leveled up but never replaced, minimizing the need to juggle equipment across such a large cast. Though turn-based, battles ran at breakneck speed, with combatant actions frequently overlapping one another to reduce the time each fight took to play out. An auto-battle option made encounters with low-level rabble almost completely painless. Each character specialized in a specific role and their capabilities were similiarly focused, with a limited (and semi-permanent) rune system offering the bulk of true customization. With up to six combatants available for any battle, you could build your team for power, for speed, or for fun because you simply liked the characters in question. It was flexible but never fussy.

Admittedly, Suikoden's party and resource management mechanics weren't perfect. Considering just how many options the game presented players with, though, it was a remarkable accomplishment.

A New, Bizarre Pokemon Crossover is Coming to DS in 2012

A new Pokemon game of sorts has been announced, and it's not at all what you might guess. Rather than starring in a new JRPG, beat 'em up, or something else that could be classified as "expected," Pokemon is being crossed over with Tecmo Koei series Nobunaga's Ambition.

The game's name isn't especially imaginative; it appears to be called Pokemon + Nobunaga's Ambition based on early images and what little information we have so far. It was announced at the Jump Festa expo taking place this weekend in Japan and will see characters from both franchises joining together.

Nobunaga's Ambition may not be a name you're particularly familiar with, but that's not because it's especially new or insignificant. In fact, it's one of Koei's oldest franchises, with the original game being released in 1983. Since then there have been more than a dozen games released for a variety of platforms, covering everything from MSX and NES up to PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. The games themselves are strategy RPGs set in Japan's Sengoku period.

We don't know a whole lot about the game at this point beyond the fact that it's coming to DS sometime in 2012. We'll report back as we learn more concrete information.

[Image courtesy of Kyle McLain on Twitter.]

Mabinogi Heroes (KR)

Back a few months ago, the producers of Nexon's Mabinogi Heroes mentioned about new dragons in the making, with a huge scale raid being developed. Wow, they were true to their words and the dragons seen in this trailer is nothing less than breath-taking.

And of course the in-game storyline where the hero becomes affected by the Soulstone and becomes Diablo... Oh wait, wrong game. Ok, I know you are wondering where the heck is our arrow hero, Kai, I am guessing he will be added in Part 2 of the update. Stay tuned!

CD Projekt demands €millions from pirates

Polish developer CD Projekt has demanded a €911.80 (£765.06) settlement fee from thousands of German BitTorrent users.

The claim comes in the wake of the widespread piracy of The Witcher 2, which was released in May and widely publicised to be DRM-free, and has caused controversy in the community as many of those being slapped with the fee claim not to have done anything wrong. But CD Projekt stands its ground on the matter:

“We’re addressing only 100% confirmed piracy causes that are 100% possible to prove,” said Michal Nowakowski, CD Projekt’s VP of Business Development in a recent statement, “We are not worried about tracking the wrong people. As this is the trade secret of the company working on this, I cannot share it.”

It’s clear, whatever the truth is, that CD Projekt has been wronged, although its methods of seeking reparations are questionable. There’s every chance too, that by actively pursuing pirates in this way, CD Projekt might make any potential pirates in other countries think twice about disseminating illegal copies of The Witcher 2 and other CD Projekt games.

The Witcher 2 PC sold more than 1 million copies, while CD Projekt CEO Marcin Iwinski estimated recently that over 4.5 million copies of The Witcher 2 had been downloaded illegally since the game launched.

Read our Witcher 2 review on TotalPCGaming.com

 

 

XSEED Bringing the Canvas Curse-Like Sumioni to Vita This Spring

As if there weren't already enough fun-looking Vita games to keep on your radar, XSEED Games has announced plans to bring Sumioni: Demon Arts to North America this spring.

Sumioni looks a lot like an evolved take on Kirby: Canvas Curse, one of the first DS games to really catch on because of its use of the system's touchscreen. Sumioni likewise takes advantage of not just Vita's touchscreen, but its rear touchpad, too.

You play as an ink demon (that being the literal translation of Sumioni from Japanese to English) in this platformer where you're able to draw on the screen to create platforms for your character to use. You still control the character yourself and can draw more than just platforms, including brushstrokes that set objects or enemies on fire, cause lighting to strike, or summon allies. The rear touchpad comes into play as you run out of ink; drawing consumes your ink which is recharged by rubbing the touchpad. There are 30 stages in all and multiple endings to be discovered.

The game is being developed by Acquire, the Japanese developer responsible for Tenchu, Way of the Samurai, and both What Did I Do to Deserve This, My Lord? games. XSEED previously published Acquire's Wizardy: Labyrinth of Lost Souls in North America; it has also brought a wide variety of Japanese titles to the west including Retro Game Challenge, Little King's Story, and Half-Minute Hero.

Sumioni will be available on Vita sometime during spring 2012 in North America. Vita itself is set to go on sale here and in Europe on February 22.

Rumor

Remember the time when one of TERA's development leads left the project not long after the game launched? Another high profile executive is set to leave the company, according to foreign reports. Reports are pointing to the apparent failure of TERA hitting expected targets, leading to Hangame's interim/ deputy CEO to submit his resignation letter, already accepted by parent company NHN. Other sources point to him leaving to begin his own company as the interim position is restricting his progress.

Korean MMO portal Hangame is set to be restructured as well, with divisions for mobile gaming, MMORPG and non-MMO projects, with a different person in-charge of each rather than just 1 top superior. During the interim CEO's stay at Hangame since 2005, he oversaw games including Project R1 by buying over IMC Games, Kingdom Under Fire II, Metro Conflict and of course, TERA.

Saving the System II: More Failed Consoles that Went Wrong Instead of Right

Failed game systems come in two flavors. Some are simply bad ideas, conceived in delusion and marketed in hubris. These systems, one could argue, deserve to die early and unpleasantly. Other systems aren't to blame for their downfalls. They fail because something went wrong at a higher level, and they end up the victims of a few bad decisions, misguided marketing, or the specter of internal corporate squabbling.

We've covered three of these unfairly doomed systems before, and now we return to the halls of failure and the game systems that rest there. We're playing by the same rules, so we won't change a console's internal, game-playing capabilities. We'll just look at what these three game platforms could've done to succeed -- and what happened when they didn't.

The Atari Lynx

The close of the 1980s found Atari in an awkward position. The company had survived the console crash of 1983, but the shakeout let Nintendo seize the reins of the industry. Atari, once the dominant force in game consoles, saw the Atari 7800 beaten thoroughly by Nintendo's crushingly popular NES. Atari would try again, this time in the handheld market.

As Nintendo prepared its black-and-white Game Boy for a 1989 launch, Atari planned a counterattack. A weapon was found at Epyx, where Amiga designers R.J. Mical and Dave Needle created a portable system called the Handy in 1987. Atari bought the device, rechristened it the Lynx, and debuted it in September 1989, only a month after the Game Boy. The two systems forged different paths. A rampant success, the Game Boy went through several redesigns and wasn't retired until 1998. The Lynx let out a final breath by 1994, with only a fraction of the Game Boy's market share. Perhaps there was no way to beat Nintendo, but the Atari Lynx might well have stuck it out.

Make it Smaller and Longer-Lasting

Handheld game units existed before 1989, but they were usually single-game diversions with basic displays. The Game Boy and Lynx offered the interchangeable cartridges of a home system, and the games they ran felt much like the things you'd see on an NES or, in the Lynx's case, a decent computer of the era. Most importantly, they were portable. Kids could throw the systems in their backpacks and pockets, and they could play them without tying up the television.

And here the Game Boy excelled. Nintendo luminary Gunpei Yokoi designed a system that offered the responsive controls of an NES pad in a device not that much larger than a point-and-shoot camera. The Lynx had to be bigger by necessity: it had a large color screen and a design that allowed left-handed players to flip the system and use the D-pad on the other side. But it also needed to last.

What Happened Instead:

Lynx games looked better than the Game Boy's black-and-white display, but the system couldn't run them for extended periods. The Lynx was lucky to squeeze five hours from six AA batteries, while the Game Boy lasted twice as long with fewer batteries.

"I rarely put batteries in my Lynx," recalls Chris Bieniek, who reviewed and previewed Lynx games extensively at VideoGames Computer Entertainment. "It just wasn't worth it to play without the power adapter. On the other hand, people tend to forget how long you could play the original Game Boy on a set of four AAs. It was a pretty good, long time. For somebody like me who played both systems regularly, it seemed like an eternity compared to what you'd get out of the Lynx, which could suck six batteries dry in an afternoon."

The Lynx was also a bit too big. Atari went with a large, bone-shaped chunk of gray plastic, with plenty of grip space and two separate buttons for ON and OFF. It was nearly twice the Game Boy's size, and it proved cumbersome to carry around. Lynx co-designer R.J. Mical attributes the handheld's size to focus groups, who suggested a large system... and then complained that Atari's final design was too large.

"It might have been a few pennies cheaper, but not enough to change the price, I don't think," Mical says. "But people would have thought differently about it, and that would have made a huge difference... no pun intended."

Atari redesigned the Lynx in 1991, resulting in a smaller system with better grips, a lower price, and better battery life. By the time the Lynx II came out, however, it was competing against the Game Gear as well as the Game Boy... and many players had already decided against Atari.

Remake Atari's Image

Technical comparisons were one thing, but Atari truly suffered when pitted against Nintendo's brand. Pervasive and kid-friendly, Nintendo was buoyed by its own magazine and marketing that made the company's name synonymous with video games in the late 1980s. This success came at Atari's expense.

"Nintendo tried to rebuild the trust of retailers and consumers by drawing a clear distinction between its products and the bloated, headed-for-a-crash games business of the early '80s," says Bieniek. "Sullying Atari's reputation was one unavoidable side effect of those efforts."

Atari needed a makeover to refashion itself and its systems into valid rivals of Nintendo. Sega did as much for itself in the early 1990s, mocking Nintendo with catchy marketing. Atari could try that, but first it would need to shake the dead weight of an era gone by.

What Happened Instead:

Atari mounted a meager offensive. Perhaps inspired by Sega, the Lynx's marketing teams devised a few confrontational ads, and one TV commercial opened with the unsubtle "You gonna buy the same old game, boy?" It did little good against Nintendo's defenses.

"Comparing the Lynx and the Game Boy is almost an apples-to-oranges proposition," Bieniek says. "People weren't going to the store looking for a portable game system and weighing the merits of the available handhelds. In a scenario like that, who would choose a blurry, Gatorade-colored LCD screen over a color display? The truth is that the specs didn't matter much. They bought the Game Boy because it was a new game system from the company that made the NES, which was awesome. And if you look at it that way, maybe they didn't buy the Lynx because it was a new game system from the company that made the VCS, which was old hat."

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Review

Skyrim is a serious Game of the Year contender, bringing some incredible layered questing into the modern gaming age, and offering a sweeping world full of secrets and mysticism rarely found outside the classic RPG genre. But yet again, Bethesda has shown us why it is streets ahead of the competition, by simply delivering an incredible single player campaign with enough variety, intrigue, and good old fashioned, solid gameplay that lasts several months.

Like Oblivion before it, Skyrim lets the gamer explore the massive world at their leisure, using any combination of spells, arrows and melee to fight off the hordes of enemies that litter the dungeons and castles. There are a lot of places to explore, and although the initial map seems a bit limited, it’s absolutely stuffed to the gills with things to do, with many caves and dungeons going down many levels.

In Skyrim, Bethesda has attempted to avoid the repetition of previous Elder Scrolls games by giving most areas their own identity, story and atmosphere. It’s both wonderfully believable and immersive. A brief intro sets the scene, as your character, later revealed to be Dragonborn – people with the ability to speak the Dragon language and perform Shouts – has been unwittingly caught up in a civil rebellion.

Just as your hero is about to be executed, unforeseen events break you loose and thrust you into the open world. From there, you are on your own, and despite a lengthy and impressive main quest line to complete, most players will quickly find themselves diverted by a world full of interesting people and fun stuff to do. The side quests alone number in the hundreds, and are often strung together in storylines that make other titles look bare, and the volume of things to do at times can be overwhelming. It’s easy to spend many hours of game time hunting and crafting to make a set of armour, but it never feels like a chore – in fact, it‘s usually a lot of fun.

One of the stand-out side quests on offer involves a random drinking game in a small village. Downing several tankards of ale leads to your character blackingout and waking up in a temple way across the map. As it happens, you trashed the temple in a drunken frenzy, and the resident priest is none too happy. Retracing your steps in a similar vein to the movie The Hangover, you discover exactly what you got up to while out of your skull, and attempt to put it right. Once the mystery is resolved, you will likely look at your game clock to discover that you’ve yet again lost two hours to a seemingly random side quest that hit you out of nowhere.

One of the first things you’ll notice on firing up the game is the visuals – although Bethesda is still hard at work tidying up some texture glitches, the PC version absolutely sings when running on a rig with a relatively modest spec. Although the draw distance and model quality seem only modestly better than the console versions, the leap is big enough to sway the choosy gamer towards the keyboard and mouse.

But alas, the controls – and the PC loses points here – offer a set up that is clearly intended for the console market, as keyboard compatibility occasionally becoming a slight struggle. Plugging in a controller helps, but vanilla PC Skyrim has annoying menu to mouse interaction, a low vertical view movement, and a lack of key remapping which grates somewhat – Bethesda is working on fixes, however, and a simple search of the web throws up all manner of mods and patch commands to help out.

And what PC review would be complete without a bit of news on the mods available? In short, the modding community has been busy since launch, with some classic additions to improve and streamline the game for the PC. The best ones around currently deal in visual tweaks and graphics enhancements, but if Oblivion is anything to go by, the future holds a lot of excellent content for PC gamers. For that alone, the PC version is worth every penny.

A quick line on some of the glitches found in game – yes, it’s expected of every Bethesda game to be glitchy, but at times Skyrim can be a bit of a mess. Surprisingly, a few laughable issues returned from previous games, but the odd problem resulted in a frustrating need to reload a save – luckily, Bethesda are shipping patches regularly to fix all the issues as they crop up. Known issues already out there in the wild include some side quests randomly glitching so that they can’t be completed, completed side quests remaining as unfinished on your quest journal, and there’s also the little matter of dragons flying backwards.

But, as anyone you ask will tell you, it’s a Bethesda game – most of us can overlook the silliness for what is clearly an immense piece of work, and the new benchmark for RPGs and single player games as a whole. It can be a tiny bit rough on the odd occasion, but half an hour spent tweaking and patching really make the game a masterpiece.

Skyrim really deserves every accolade it’s getting right now, as the sheer depth of character and gameplay is truly mind blowing. With enough quests to make an MMO blush, and storylines that could have come from RPG classics of yesteryear, it’s hard to think of anyone who wouldn’t enjoy this game. This is a welcome change of pace, especially in another season of rehashes and sequels to repetitive genres. And as for the ability to mod, tweak and tinker, the PC version is the one to get, because in six months time, you’ll thank us for the recommendation. 9/10



Actually, You Can't Easily Switch PSN Accounts on Vita

Having already contradicted itself once before, Sony now says it is not possible to switch between PlayStation Network accounts on a PlayStation Vita without a factory reset.

Catalogs handed out at a Vita event in Japan earlier this month contained an FAQ, and among the questions it answered was one regarding the ability to use more than one PSN account on the same system. It stated a factory reset was needed before another account could be logged into, thereby eliminating any convenient way of using multiple accounts on the same system. This is important not just to those who want to share the system with a fellow PSN account holder, but also those who wish to create a foreign PSN account for the purpose of accessing digital content not available in their region.

A Sony spokesperson then claimed this wasn't the case, and that buying multiple Vita memory cards would make it possible to juggle more than one account on a single system. A factory reset would, however, still be required for anyone wanting to log in to a different account with only one memory card.

At least until the next clarifying statement comes along, Sony says a factory reset is needed to switch PSN accounts, regardless of your memory card situation.

"[The] PSN account is tied to the hardware and the memory card, not just the card, which means that if a second person is using your Vita, it's not just a case of switching out memory cards, it's clearing out all of your saved data on the Vita itself when you do the factory reset," a Sony representative told Wired. "In other words, PlayStation Vita is intended to be played by only one user."

Although the multiple memory card solution wasn't exactly ideal, it was at least a method for sharing the system.

Vita is set to be released in just two days' time, on December 17, in Japan (where gamers seem eager to get their hands on it). It'll then be out in North America and Europe on February 22. Those who pre-order the First Edition bundle will get it a week early, on February 15. In the meantime, a handful of new Vita game trailers were just recently released -- check them out here.

Lost Saga

Hello all you crazy and senile Lost Saga fans! As mentioned, Part 4 of the character list is finally here! To kick things off, the number 61 hero has now been revealed to be a historical character based off the culture and tales of Indonesia, where Lost Saga is currently the hottest game there at this very moment. Enjoy!

Ni no Kuni Spreads Two Hours of Charm Over Forty Hours

EverQuest II kind of reminds me of a town I lived in for a few months and then never expected to come back to. Returning after this much time it's disorienting to see both how much and how little has changed. Most notably, EQII recently joined the ever-growing club of semi-free MMOs, and now relies on sales of expansion content and non-essential perks to make rent. It's even got one of those nifty streaming clients that allow you to start playing before the full download is finished, so if you've ever harbored even the slightest hint of curiosity about the game, there's really no excuse not to at least pop your head in there for a few minutes.

Next week, December 6 specifically, EQII will be getting its 11th expansion: Age of Discovery. Among other things, this one adds a Beastlord class from the first EverQuest that players have been begging for pretty much since EQ2's release. As one might expect from a "Beast Master" type class, they can tame cats, wolves, birds, and other critters found all over the world. One animal (or "warder") at a time joins its master in combat, where in addition to making standard attacks they can notice enemy weaknesses and open up opportunities for more debilitating strikes. It's a class that offers more complexity than most along with providing an imaginary friend for solo players to talk to. Speaking of, NPC mercenaries are being added in this update. For a regular salary, hirelings can fill a tank, healer, support, melee DPS, or caster DPS role just like a regular member of a party. They take up a group spot and even insist on a share of the loot. On the plus side, they're less annoying to play with than the average pick up group, and can be given silly names if you don't like the one they have by default.

Aion to go free to play in February 2012

Aion originally took flight in September 2009 and scored well for its relatively trouble-free launch and high polished graphics and gameplay. It seems it’s time for a change, though, and the grind-heavy game, largely favoured by Eastern audiences, will enter the F2P arena in the New Year.

Moreover operation, support and servers responsibilities will be moved from  NCSoft to German browser-based MMO specialist, Gameforge.

If you’re looking for answers to account related questions Aion’s Free To Play website should prove useful, not to mention details of limitations on the free accounts, bonuses for current and previous subscribers and details of the gravy ‘Gold Users’ are entitled to.

The early signs are that new (or ‘Starter’) players will actually have very few gameplay restrictions placed on them. For example, all quests and instances will be open and available and the games level cap of 55 isn’t affected.

The rub comes with the number of character slots available to Starter players, which is limited to two. Chat, trade, mailbox and broker limitations (among others) also exist, though a relatively thorough FAQ section on the site seems to spell out much of the detail.

Previous subscribers willing to take a poke at the new F2P model won’t be limited in quite the same way, with 8 character slots available and full access to chat, trade, mailbox, broker services available in full.

You can find out more about the switch on Aion’s new F2P website, along with a handy table of the three account options on offer.

Aion Europe going Free to Play

(Game website) Following Lineage II going Free to Play, NCsoft has now teamed up with European game publisher, GameForge, to launch Aion Free to Play in February early next year. If you are from Europe and currently playing on the North America server, you can op for a server change now, which will only go into effect once the EU servers are up.

Version 3.0 (see trailer below) will be updated as well, with all content free. More details at the source link given. I wonder how will the North American and other English players react...

VOTE! Pick the Greatest Music Ever in 1UP's Game Music Thunderdome!

welp

Posted: 4 minutes ago by  VeryMadMage

I'm done with this contest. Once again, popularity wins over quallity. And I'm not saying Jenova is bad, but the results disparity is indicitive of the masses voting for popular things because that's wht they know. I bet 90% of people who played both games voted for Gothic Neclord.

Homefront Promotional Stunt Results in a $7,000 Fine

The release of thousands of red balloons to publicize a videogame earlier this year has resulted in a fine being levied against the marketing company responsible.

The stunt took place in San Francisco during this year's Game Developers Conference in March and was meant to publicize the release of THQ's Homefront on March 15. The game centers around a North Korean invasion of the United States. 10,000 red balloons were released as part of a staged protest meant to "simulate a method used by South Korea to send messages of hope to the North," according to a statement THQ issued at the time. The balloons contained a message about pre-ordering the game at GameStop, which claimed it was unaware of the stunt until after it happened.

TrashTalkFCM, the marketing company behind the campaign, had expected the balloons to rise high enough into the air that they would disintegrate, according to the San Francisco Appeal. The weather didn't cooperate, however, and hundreds of the balloons ended up in the San Francisco Bay. THQ claimed at the time the balloons "were made from a 100% organic product and are 100% biodegradable" and a clean-up crew was hired to remove any that had fallen into the Bay.

The Appeal now reports the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board has fined TrashTalkFCM $7,000, which it has 30 days to pay. This is the result of a settlement between the two; the fine itself was possibly less than it otherwise would have been due to TrashTalkFCM assuming responsibility and cooperating with the clean-up.

Following the stunt, THQ seemed to get the message that doing something quite so radical wasn't a wise idea. Unfortunately things didn't get a whole lot better for Homefront as the much-hyped shooter was not received well by critics, possibly causing a drop in the publisher's stock price. Its developer, Kaos Studios, was shut down in June and a sequel will be handled a different company.

We're guessing the marketing campaign will be, too.

[Images courtesy of SFGate.com.]

Gundam Online (JP)

So, I am sure by now you would have heard of or played SD Gundam Online from... OGPlanet if I remember correctly. While you guys checking out the mini robot butts, the Japanese gamers are getting the real deal. Introducing Gundam Online, and yes, they are no longer Super Deformed (SD)! The biggest draw for Gundam Online will be the ability to accommodate 100 machines in the same map at the same time, think 50 Vs 50. Need I really tell you the 2 opposing factions?

Presented in a TPS (third person shooter) mode, Gundam Online You need not choose to be a Gundam, there are even the tank robots (I forgot those names) which can be selected. Players may also assume the role of a commander to direct traffic in the battles, as well as assuming the roles of various Gundam pilots from the various series. The Alpha Test will launch on 16th December till 19th December, picking only 3000 lucky players.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Character Class Guide

What the hell is the difference between a Jedi Knight and Jedi Consular? Is Boba Fett more of a Mercenary or a Powertech? What if I just want to be a good healer? Classes and their accompanying descriptions in Star Wars: The Old Republic are more than a bit opaque for beginners. That's where this guide comes in handy. You'll find a description of all eight classes and 16 sub-classes in the game, and be able to quickly learn a class's role in multiplayer battles or instances, as well as that class's most important abilities. We've also included the first companion you'll run across, as well as what starship you get to cruise through the galaxy with.

We'll refer to the roles of Tank, Healer, and DPS throughout the guide. For those of you new to MMOs, here's a brief description of each:

Tank: Tanks are designed to draw enemy fire away from the rest of the party. They typically have lots of defensive bonus and deal out moderate to high damage.

Damage Per Second: Referred to as DPS, these classes can't take the beating from enemies that Tanks can, but when played properly can deal insane amounts of damage.

Healer: As you might guess, Healers restore the health of their allies, and they're usually (but not always) more fragile and less heavy-hitting than the other two classes.

Choosing a class:

While you choose your starting class at the beginning of the game, at level 10 you'll be able to pick an advanced class or specialization for your character. Given that you'll spend more of the game playing above that level, this guide focuses more on these sub-choices than the basic classes. We recommend thinking of it this way when making your character: choose your general class based on what kind of story you want to play, and your subclass based on what abilities you want. For example, if I want to explore the gritty underworld of the Star Wars universe, I'll pick Bounty Hunter, and if I want to flesh out my character as an unstoppable badass tank, I'll choose the Powertech specialization.

Your abilities will grow as you play through the game and level up. We tried to shy away from specific numbers when discussing abilities for this very reason- if we do happen to mention a number, it most likely applies to the maximum level of that ability, not what you'd see when you first choose it at a lower level.

Republic

Jedi Knight

Companion -- T7-01 -- Astromech Droid

Starship -- Defender: A Jedi Order-built corvette

Knights are the rank and file of the Jedi order. They're a bit more action-oriented than their diplomatic Consular counterparts. Choose Jedi Knight if you want to play with the Force and fill either a Tank or a DPS role. The custom-built Defender starship also makes this class attractive for those that don't want to fly around in a ship that looks like it's had too many of Han Solo style 'special modifications.'

Subclass: Guardian

Role: Tank/DPS

Guardians get up close to enemies and can take hits like a tank, but they're also capable of unleashing massive amounts of damage in short period of time. The class's Endure ability will boost your maximum health, allowing you to stay in fights longer than your allies -- as does the heavy armor that you'll be wearing. If things end up getting out of hand, the Guardian's Force Exhaustion power (which he shares with the Sentinel) will slow enemies down and put some hurting on them.

Subclass: Sentinel

Role: DPS

The Sentinel is basically a Jedi Rogue -- built for dealing damage as fast as possible. He has many abilities that take advantage of his dual Lightsabers, such as Blade Rush, which causes lots of damage, or Opportune Attack which boosts your hit power if you're using the Ataru Lightsaber form. But the Sentinel's deadliest ability is actually a combo. Overload Lightsaber unleashes extra burning damage on targets, while Merciless Zeal heals you for each critical hit you score with a burn effect. The result is that you can take down enemies and get health back in the process.

Trooper

Companion -- Tanno Vik -- A Weequay demolitions expert from Nar Shadda.

Starship -- BT7-Thunderclap -- The Republic's largest rapid assault ship.

Troopers are members of the most elite fighting force in the galaxy, and make up the backbone of Republic Special Forces. They use heavy weapons and heavy armor. Despite this, they're not pure tanks. Play as a trooper if you want to be a hybrid DPS class.

Subclass -- Vanguard

Role: Tank/DPS

Defense is the name of the game for the Vanguard. The class can give out lots of damage, but the Adrenaline Rush ability (which works almost exactly like the Jedi Knight's Endure ability) will boost your health significantly and keep you in the fight. Meanwhile, the Static Shield ability strengthens your chances of scoring a critical hit.

Subclass -- Commando

Role: Healer/DPS

While the Commando is more than capable of taking down tough enemies, this class also sports a number of healing abilities that can help take the edge off in a tight situation. Both the Trauma Probe and Kolto Bomb will heal allies and keep them in the game. The Commando's ability to fight enemies from afar also keeps allies in view, so you'll be able to see who's drawing enemy fire before their life bar starts ticking down too fast.

Guild Wars 2

(Game website) It seems that ArenaNet has finally announced the 8th class, although no official content is seen at the site now. As most would have guessed, it is indeed the Mesmer class from Guild Wars 1, but it seems the class is now equipped with a much wider range of weapons in the arsenal O_O Oh well, enjoy the trailer!

Six Must-Play DS Visual Novels

Me hate reading, derp derp derp

Posted: 12/13/2011 by  lordlaharl422

You're an ass, you know that? We all have video game genres we like and don't like, and that's fine. But just because you don't like a genre doesn't make it cool to go trolling articles about it. I don't care much for FPS's, but I recognize the fact that some people do, and I'm not about to go to every article about Halo or whatever and declare them to be "not real games".

‘Revolutionary’ Unstoppable Gorg tower defence gameplay unveiled

Futuremark, makers of the world’s favourite 3D benchmarking software, 3D Marks, have unveiled the first gameplay footage of their forthcoming tower defence game, Unstoppable Gorg, labelling it ‘revolutionary’.

Putting a twist on the classic ‘fixed tower’ approach to the genre, Unstoppable Gorg introduces the ability to twist and spin tower locations on an orbital path. The retro 1950′s B-movie themed puzzler is a far cry from Futuremark’s first foray into PC gaming, Shattered Horizon, a graphically demanding zero-G first person shooter.

If tower defence is your bag you can catch up on all the latest news via Futuremark’s Unstoppable Gorg Facebook page.